Rouen Cathedral

Infobox Skyscraper
building_name= Rouen Cathedral


previous_building= St. Nikolai, Hamburg
year_built= 1876
surpassed_by_building= Cologne Cathedral
year_end= 1880
year_highest= 1876
location= Rouen, France
antenna_spire= 151 m (495 ft.)
height_stories= n/a
construction_period= 1202-1880
emporis_id=125188

Rouen Cathedral ( _fr. Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen) is a Gothic cathedral in Rouen, in northwestern France. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Rouen.

Features

Rouen Cathedral contains a tomb of Richard the Lionheart which contains his heart. His bowels were buried within the church of the Chateau of Châlus-Chabrol in the Limousin. It was from the walls of the Chateau of Châlus-Chabrol that the crossbow bolt was fired, which led to his death once the wound became septic. His corporal remains were buried next to his father at Fontevraud Abbey near Chinon and Saumur, France. Richard's effigy is on top of the tomb, and his name is inscribed in Latin on the side.

The Cathedral also contains the tomb of Rollo, the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy.

The "Butter Tower" was erected in the early 16th century. Archbishop Georges d'Amboise had authorised the burning of butter instead of oil, which was scarce, in lamps during Lent, collecting monies of "six deniers Tournois" from each diocesan for this permission. [cite book |title=The Pantropheon or a History of Food and its Preparation in Ancient Times |last=Soyer |first=Alexis|year=1977|origyear=1853|publisher=Paddington Press |location=Wisbech, Cambs. |isbn=0-448-22976-5|pages=p. 172]

Rouen Cathedral was the tallest building in the world (151 m) from 1876 to 1880.

The cathedral was bombed in 1944, taking several direct hits that narrowly missed destroying key pillars.

In Art

[
Claude Monet, 1894]
*The Rouen Cathedral was the subject for a series of paintings by the Impressionist painter Claude Monet, who painted the same scene at different times of the day. Two paintings are in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; one is in the Getty Center in Los Angeles, CA; one is in the National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade. The estimated value of one painting is over $40 million.

*Gustave Flaubert was inspired by the stained glass windows of St. Julian and of Salome, basing two of his "Three Tales" on them.

*Joris-Karl Huysmans wrote "La Cathédrale" about the Cathedral, a novel based on an intensive examination of the building.

References

ee also

* Church of St. Ouen, Rouen.
* List of tallest churches